She beat out Helen Hunt and Gwyneth Paltrow, among others, for the role of Dr. Ellie Sattler in जुरासिक पार्क (1993). This was revealed to Dern herself when she visited Today (1952) to promote the 3D re-release of the film in 2013. The audition tapes of the other actresses were shown to Dern, to which she responded "Well, I'm a lucky girl".
